“All the Different Pieces of Me Being Integrated”: Religion/Spirituality and Identity in Working Christian Mothers
The current qualitative study explored experiences of religion/spirituality and their impact on women’s identities among Christian working mothers in academia. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analyzed using the grounded theory method. The resultant themes reflected the...
Main Author: | |
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Contributors: | ; ; |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
Published: |
2022
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In: |
Journal of psychology and theology
Year: 2022, Volume: 50, Issue: 2, Pages: 139-159 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Woman
/ Spirituality
/ Identity
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IxTheo Classification: | AE Psychology of religion CB Christian life; spirituality NBE Anthropology |
Further subjects: | B
marriage and family systems
B gender issues B God concepts / God image |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | The current qualitative study explored experiences of religion/spirituality and their impact on women’s identities among Christian working mothers in academia. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analyzed using the grounded theory method. The resultant themes reflected the roles and functions of religion/spirituality in women’s lives and in their identities, primarily by establishing a core sense of self that unified all of their roles and “selves.” Religion/spirituality also served as meaning-making frameworks that provided purpose both to the self and to each of the women’s roles, while religion/spirituality also pervaded every aspect of the self, coloring women’s experience and driving their decisions. Further, women discussed religion/spirituality providing a sense of purpose by which they could pursue actualization and transcendence through generative means in each of their roles. The results indicate that spiritual identity may be a broader and more fundamental element of identity than previously considered. Implications of the current data and suggestions for future research are discussed. |
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ISSN: | 2328-1162 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of psychology and theology
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0091647121990630 |